org.freedesktop.home1(5) — Linux manual page

NAME | INTRODUCTION | THE MANAGER OBJECT | THE HOME OBJECT | VERSIONING | HISTORY | SEE ALSO | NOTES | COLOPHON

ORG.FREEDESKTOP.HOME1(5)  org.freedesktop.home1  ORG.FREEDESKTOP.HOME1(5)

NAME         top

       org.freedesktop.home1 - The D-Bus interface of systemd-homed

INTRODUCTION         top

       systemd-homed.service(8) is a system service which may be used to
       create, remove, change or inspect home areas. This page describes
       the D-Bus interface.

THE MANAGER OBJECT         top

       The service exposes the following interfaces on the Manager object
       on the bus:

           node /org/freedesktop/home1 {
             interface org.freedesktop.home1.Manager {
               methods:
                 GetHomeByName(in  s user_name,
                               out u uid,
                               out s home_state,
                               out u gid,
                               out s real_name,
                               out s home_directory,
                               out s shell,
                               out o bus_path);
                 GetHomeByUID(in  u uid,
                              out s user_name,
                              out s home_state,
                              out u gid,
                              out s real_name,
                              out s home_directory,
                              out s shell,
                              out o bus_path);
                 GetUserRecordByName(in  s user_name,
                                     out s user_record,
                                     out b incomplete,
                                     out o bus_path);
                 GetUserRecordByUID(in  u uid,
                                    out s user_record,
                                    out b incomplete,
                                    out o bus_path);
                 ListHomes(out a(susussso) home_areas);
                 ActivateHome(in  s user_name,
                              in  s secret);
                 ActivateHomeIfReferenced(in  s user_name,
                                          in  s secret);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 DeactivateHome(in  s user_name);
                 RegisterHome(in  s user_record);
                 UnregisterHome(in  s user_name);
                 CreateHome(in  s user_record);
                 CreateHomeEx(in  s user_record,
                              in  a{sh} blobs,
                              in  t flags);
                 RealizeHome(in  s user_name,
                             in  s secret);
                 RemoveHome(in  s user_name);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 FixateHome(in  s user_name,
                            in  s secret);
                 AuthenticateHome(in  s user_name,
                                  in  s secret);
                 UpdateHome(in  s user_record);
                 UpdateHomeEx(in  s user_record,
                              in  a{sh} blobs,
                              in  t flags);
                 ResizeHome(in  s user_name,
                            in  t size,
                            in  s secret);
                 ChangePasswordHome(in  s user_name,
                                    in  s new_secret,
                                    in  s old_secret);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 LockHome(in  s user_name);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 UnlockHome(in  s user_name,
                            in  s secret);
                 AcquireHome(in  s user_name,
                             in  s secret,
                             in  b please_suspend,
                             out h send_fd);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 RefHome(in  s user_name,
                         in  b please_suspend,
                         out h send_fd);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 RefHomeUnrestricted(in  s user_name,
                                     in  b please_suspend,
                                     out h send_fd);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 ReleaseHome(in  s user_name);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 LockAllHomes();
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 DeactivateAllHomes();
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 Rebalance();
               properties:
                 readonly a(sso) AutoLogin = [...];
             };
             interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Peer { ... };
             interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable { ... };
             interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties { ... };
           };

   Methods
       GetHomeByName() returns basic user information (a minimal subset
       of the full user record), provided a user name. The information
       supplied more or less matches what getpwnam(3) returns: the
       numeric UID and GID, the real name, home directory and shell. In
       addition it returns a state identifier describing the state the
       user's home directory is in, as well as a bus path referring to
       the bus object encapsulating the user record and home directory.
       This object implements the org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface
       documented below. This method, and most others in this interface
       that take user names, will try to use the caller's home area if
       the specified user name is an empty string.

       GetHomeByUID() is similar to GetHomeByName() but acquires the
       information based on the numeric UID of the user.

       GetUserRecordByName() is also similar to GetHomeByName() but
       returns the full JSON user record data instead of the broken down
       records. An additional returned boolean indicates whether the
       record is complete or not. A record is considered complete when
       its "privileged" section is included, and incomplete if it was
       removed (see JSON User Records[1] for details about the various
       sections of a user record). Generally, only privileged clients and
       clients running under the identity of the user itself get access
       to the "privileged" section and will thus see complete records.

       GetUserRecordByUID() is similar to GetUserRecordByName() but
       returns the user record matching the specified numeric UID.

       ListHomes() returns an array of all locally managed users. The
       array contains the same fields GetHomeByName() returns: user name,
       numeric UID, state, numeric GID, real name, home directory, shell
       and bus path of the matching bus object.

       ActivateHome() activates (i.e. mounts) the home directory of the
       specified user. The second argument shall contain a user record
       consisting only of a "secret" section (all other sections should
       be stripped, see JSON User Records[1] for details), and should
       contain only the secret credentials necessary for unlocking the
       home directory. Typically a client would invoke this function
       first with an entirely empty record (which is possibly sufficient
       if single-factor authentication with a plugged-in security token
       is configured), and would then retry with a record populated with
       more information, depending on the returned error code, in case
       more credentials are necessary. This function is synchronous and
       returns only after the home directory was fully activated (or the
       operation failed), which might take some time. Clients must be
       prepared for that, and typically should extend the D-Bus method
       call timeout accordingly. This method is equivalent to the
       Activate() method on the org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface
       documented below, but may be called on the manager object and
       takes a user name as additional argument, instead.

       ActivateHomeIfReferenced() is identical to ActivateHome().
       However, the call only succeeds if the home directory is currently
       referenced. Useful in conjunction with RefHomeUnrestricted(),
       which allows creating a reference to a home directory even if the
       home directory is not active.

       DeactivateHome() deactivates (i.e. unmounts) the home directory of
       the specified user. It is equivalent to the Deactivate() method on
       the org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface documented below.

       RegisterHome() registers a new home directory locally. It receives
       the JSON user record as only argument (which typically excludes
       the "secret" section). Registering a home directory just makes the
       user record known to the system, it does not create a home
       directory or such (which is expected to exist already, or created
       later). This operation is useful to register home directories
       locally that are not located where systemd-homed.service would
       find them automatically.

       UnregisterHome() unregisters an existing home directory. It takes
       a user name as argument and undoes what RegisterHome() does. It
       does not attempt to remove the home directory itself, it just
       unregisters it with the local system. Note that if the home
       directory is placed where systemd-homed.service looks for home
       directories anyway this call will only undo fixation (see below),
       but the record will remain known to systemd-homed.service and be
       listed among known records. Since the user record is embedded into
       the home directory this operation generally does not discard data
       belonging to the user or their record. This method is equivalent
       to Unregister() on the org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       CreateHome() registers and creates a new home directory. This
       takes a fully specified JSON user record as argument (including
       the "secret" section). This registers the user record locally and
       creates a home directory matching it, depending on the settings
       specified in the record in combination with local configuration.

       CreateHomeEx() is like CreateHome(), but it allows the home
       directory to be created with a pre-populated blob directory (see
       User Record Blob Directories[2] for more info). This can be done
       via the dictionary passed as the blobs argument to this method:
       the values are open file descriptors to regular files, and the
       keys are the filenames that should contain their respective file's
       data in the blob directory. Note that for security reasons, the
       file descriptors passed into this method must have enough
       privileges to read their target file and thus cannot be "O_PATH";
       this is done to ensure the caller is actually permitted to read
       the file they are asking to publish in the blob directories. If
       the user record passed as the first argument contains a
       "blobManifest" field it will be enforced; otherwise, a
       "blobManifest" field will be generated and inserted into the
       record. The flags argument may be used for future expansion, but
       for now pass 0.

       RealizeHome() creates a home directory whose user record is
       already registered locally. This takes a user name plus a user
       record consisting only of the "secret" section. Invoking
       RegisterHome() followed by RealizeHome() is mostly equivalent to
       calling CreateHome(), except that the latter combines the two in
       atomic fashion. This method is equivalent to Realize() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       RemoveHome() unregisters a user record locally, and removes the
       home directory belonging to it, if it is accessible. It takes a
       user name as argument. This method is equivalent to Remove() on
       the org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       FixateHome() "fixates" an automatically discovered home directory.
       systemd-homed.service automatically discovers home directories
       dropped in our plugged in and adds them to the runtime list of
       user records it manages. A user record discovered that way may be
       "fixated", in which case it is copied out of the home directory,
       onto persistent storage, to fixate the UID/GID assignment of the
       record, and extract additional (typically previously encrypted)
       user record data from the home directory. A home directory mus be
       fixated before it can be logged into. This method call takes a
       user name and a JSON user record consisting only of the "secret"
       section as argument. This method is equivalent to Fixate() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       AuthenticateHome() checks passwords or other authentication
       credentials associated with the home directory. It takes a user
       name and a JSON user record consisting only of the "secret"
       section as argument. Note that many of the other method calls
       authenticate the user first, in order to execute some other
       operation. This method call only authenticates and executes no
       further operation. Like ActivateHome() it is usually first invoked
       with an empty JSON user record, which is then populated for
       subsequent tries with additional authentication data supplied.
       This method is equivalent to Authenticate() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       UpdateHome() updates a locally registered user record. Takes a
       fully specified JSON user record as argument (possibly including
       the "secret" section). A user with a matching name and realm must
       be registered locally already, and the last change timestamp of
       the newly supplied record must be newer than the previously
       existing user record. Note this operation updates the user record
       only, it does not propagate passwords/authentication tokens from
       the user record to the storage back-end, or resizes the storage
       back-end. Typically a home directory is first updated, and then
       the password of the underlying storage updated using
       ChangePasswordHome() as well as the storage resized using
       ResizeHome(). This method is equivalent to Update() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       UpdateHomeEx() is like UpdateHome(), but it allows for changes to
       the blob directory (see User Record Blob Directories[2] for more
       info). The blobs argument works in the same way as CreateHomeEx(),
       so check there for details. The new blob directory contents passed
       into this method will completely replace the user's existing blob
       directory. The flags argument can be used to further customize the
       behavior of this method via flags defined as follows:

           #define SD_HOMED_UPDATE_OFFLINE (UINT64_C(1) << 0)

       When SD_HOMED_UPDATE_OFFLINE (0x01) is set, no attempt is made to
       update the copies of the user record and blob directory that are
       embedded into the home directory. Changes will be stored, however,
       and may be propagated into the home directory the next time it is
       reconciled (most likely when the user next logs in). Note that any
       changes made with this flag set may be lost if the home area has a
       newer record, which can happen if the home area is updated on
       another machine after this method call. This method is equivalent
       to UpdateEx() on the org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       ResizeHome() resizes the storage associated with a user record.
       Takes a user name, a disk size in bytes, and optionally a user
       record consisting only of the "secret" section as arguments. If
       the size is specified as UINT64_MAX the storage is resized to the
       size already specified in the user record. Typically, if the user
       record is updated using UpdateHome() above this is used to
       propagate the size configured there-in down to the underlying
       storage back-end. This method is equivalent to Resize() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       ChangePasswordHome() changes the passwords/authentication tokens
       of a home directory. Takes a user name, and two JSON user record
       objects, each consisting only of the "secret" section, for the old
       and for the new passwords/authentication tokens. If the user
       record with the new passwords/authentication token data is
       specified as empty the existing user record's settings are
       propagated down to the home directory storage. This is typically
       used after a user record is updated using UpdateHome() in order to
       propagate the secrets/authentication tokens down to the storage.
       Background: depending on the backend the user's authentication
       credentials are stored at multiple places: the user record kept on
       the host, the user record kept in the home directory and the
       encrypted LUKS volume slot. If the home directory is used on a
       different machined temporarily, and the password is changed there,
       and then is moved back to the original host, the passwords of the
       three might get out of sync. By issuing ChangePasswordHome() the
       three locations are updated to match the newest information. This
       method is equivalent to ChangePassword() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       LockHome() temporarily suspends access to a home directory,
       flushing out any cryptographic keys from memory. This is only
       supported on some back-ends, and is usually done during system
       suspend, in order to effectively secure home directories while the
       system is sleeping. Takes a user name as single argument. If an
       application attempts to access a home directory while it is locked
       it will typically freeze until the home directory is unlocked
       again. This method is equivalent to Lock() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       UnlockHome() undoes the effect of LockHome(). Takes a user name
       and a user record consisting only of the "secret" section as
       arguments. This method is equivalent to Unlock() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       AcquireHome() activates or unlocks a home directory in a reference
       counted mode of operation. Takes a user name and user record
       consisting only of "secret" section as argument. If the home
       directory is not active yet, it is activated. If it is currently
       locked it is unlocked. After completion a reference to the
       activation/unlocking of the home directory is returned via a file
       descriptor. When the last client which acquired such a file
       descriptor closes it the home directory is automatically
       deactivated again. This method is typically invoked when a user
       logs in, and the file descriptor is held until the user logs out
       again, thus ensuring the user's home directory can be unmounted
       automatically again in a robust fashion, when the user logs out.
       The third argument is a boolean which indicates whether the client
       invoking the call is able to automatically re-authenticate when
       the system comes back from suspending. It should be set by all
       clients that implement a secure lock screen running outside of the
       user's context, that is brought up when the system comes back from
       suspend and can be used to re-acquire the credentials to unlock
       the user's home directory. If a home directory has at least one
       client with an open reference to the home directory that does not
       support this it is not suspended automatically at system suspend,
       otherwise it is. This method is equivalent to Acquire() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       RefHome() is similar to AcquireHome() but takes no user record
       with "secret" section, i.e. will take an additional reference to
       an already activated/unlocked home directory without attempting to
       activate/unlock it itself. It will fail if the home directory is
       not already activated. This method is equivalent to Ref() on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       RefHomeUnrestricted() is identical to RefHome() but succeeds even
       if the home area is not active currently. This is useful on
       conjunction with ActivateHomeIfReferenced().

       ReleaseHome() releases a home directory again, if all file
       descriptors referencing it are already closed, that where acquired
       through AcquireHome() or RefHome(). Note that this call does not
       actually cause the deactivation of the home directory (which
       happens automatically when the last referencing file descriptor is
       closed), but is simply a synchronization mechanism that allows
       delaying of the user session's termination until any triggered
       deactivation is completed. This method is equivalent to Release()
       on the org.freedesktop.home1.Home interface.

       LockAllHomes() locks all active home directories that only have
       references that opted into automatic suspending during system
       suspend. This is usually invoked automatically shortly before
       system suspend.

       DeactivateAllHomes() deactivates all home areas that are currently
       active. This is usually invoked automatically shortly before
       system shutdown.

       Rebalance() synchronously rebalances free disk space between home
       areas. This only executes an operation if at least one home area
       using the LUKS2 backend is active and has rebalancing enabled, and
       is otherwise a NOP.

   Properties
       AutoLogin exposes an array of structures consisting of user name,
       seat name and object path of an home directory object. All locally
       managed users that have the "autoLogin" field set are listed here,
       with the seat name they are associated with. A display manager may
       watch this property and pre-fill the login screen with the users
       exposed this way.

THE HOME OBJECT         top

           node /org/freedesktop/home1/home {
             interface org.freedesktop.home1.Home {
               methods:
                 Activate(in  s secret);
                 ActivateIfReferenced(in  s secret);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 Deactivate();
                 Unregister();
                 Realize(in  s secret);
                 Remove();
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 Fixate(in  s secret);
                 Authenticate(in  s secret);
                 Update(in  s user_record);
                 UpdateEx(in  s user_record,
                          in  a{sh} blobs,
                          in  t flags);
                 Resize(in  t size,
                        in  s secret);
                 ChangePassword(in  s new_secret,
                                in  s old_secret);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 Lock();
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 Unlock(in  s secret);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 Acquire(in  s secret,
                         in  b please_suspend,
                         out h send_fd);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 Ref(in  b please_suspend,
                     out h send_fd);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 RefUnrestricted(in  b please_suspend,
                                 out h send_fd);
                 @org.freedesktop.systemd1.Privileged("true")
                 Release();
               properties:
                 @org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
                 readonly s UserName = '...';
                 readonly u UID = ...;
                 readonly (suusss) UnixRecord = ...;
                 @org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("false")
                 readonly s State = '...';
                 @org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("invalidates")
                 readonly (sb) UserRecord = ...;
             };
             interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Peer { ... };
             interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable { ... };
             interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties { ... };
             interface org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager { ... };
           };

   Methods
       Activate(), ActivateIfReferenced(), Deactivate(), Unregister(),
       Realize(), Remove(), Fixate(), Authenticate(), Update(),
       UpdateEx(), Resize(), ChangePassword(), Lock(), Unlock(),
       Acquire(), Ref(), RefUnrestricted(), Release(), operate like their
       matching counterparts on the org.freedesktop.home1.Manager
       interface (see above). The main difference is that they are
       methods of the home directory objects, and hence carry no
       additional user name parameter. Which of the two flavors of
       methods to call depends on the handles to the user known on the
       client side: if only the user name is known, it is preferable to
       use the methods on the manager object since they operate with user
       names only. Clients can also easily operate on their own home area
       by using the methods on the manager object with an empty string as
       the user name. If the client has the home's object path already
       acquired in some way, however, it is preferable to operate on the
       org.freedesktop.home1.Home objects instead.

   Properties
       UserName contains the user name of the user account/home
       directory.

       UID contains the numeric UNIX UID of the user account.

       UnixRecord contains a structure encapsulating the six fields a
       struct passwd typically contains (the password field is
       suppressed).

       State exposes the current state home the home directory.

       UserRecord contains the full JSON user record string of the user
       account.

VERSIONING         top

       These D-Bus interfaces follow the usual interface versioning
       guidelines[3].

HISTORY         top

   The Manager Object
       ActivateHomeIfReferenced(), RefHomeUnrestricted(), CreateHomeEx(),
       and UpdateHomeEx() were added in version 256.

   Home Objects
       ActivateIfReferenced(), RefUnrestricted(), and UpdateEx() were
       added in version 256.

SEE ALSO         top

       systemd(1), systemd-homed.service(8), homectl(1)

NOTES         top

        1. JSON User Records
           https://systemd.io/USER_RECORD

        2. User Record Blob Directories
           https://systemd.io/USER_RECORD_BLOB_DIRS

        3. the usual interface versioning guidelines
           https://0pointer.de/blog/projects/versioning-dbus.html

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the systemd (systemd system and service
       manager) project.  Information about the project can be found at
       ⟨http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd⟩.  If you have a
       bug report for this manual page, see
       ⟨http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/#bugreports⟩.
       This page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨https://github.com/systemd/systemd.git⟩ on 2025-02-02.  (At that
       time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
       repository was 2025-02-02.)  If you discover any rendering
       problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
       a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
       corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
       (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
       man-pages@man7.org

systemd 258~devel                                ORG.FREEDESKTOP.HOME1(5)

Pages that refer to this page: systemd.directives(7)systemd.index(7)systemd-homed.service(8)